Wilbur Ross, Fairfax to sell 6% of Bank of Ireland shares

Published 5:31 AM ET Tue, 4 March 2014
Reuters

SHARES

Two of Bank of Ireland's largest shareholders, Wilbur Ross and Fairfax Financial, began selling a 6.4 percent share in the country's largest lender on Tuesday, the placing's bookrunner Deutsche Bank said.

Billionaire investor Ross and Fairfax boss Prem Watsa were among a group of North American investors that kept the bank out of state hands in 2011 when they bought a 35 percent stake only months after Ireland signed up to an EU/IMF bailout.

The group invested in the now 14 percent state-owned bank when its share price was at about 10 cents. The shares have risen significantly since then, jumping 120 percent last year and hitting a high of 0.39 euros this year.

The bank's shares were down 6 percent at 0.34 euros by 09:10 London time on Tuesday, having slipped 7 percent on Monday after publication of its full-year results.